Play Group

Imagine this....11 children, all under age 5, all in one house for 2 hours? Do you have chills or are you feeling like you're in a nightmare? It happened today at my house!

I invited several friends over to play and we really had a lot of fun. There were the usual sharing issues, the kids who can't seem to keep their hands to themselves, the tattle tail kid, the sick kid, etc. You name the kid and he or she somehow found a place at the house today. It sounds like it would be a terrible experience, but it's really fun and as a mom, you just have to learn to let bygones be bygones!

Bailey enjoys having his friends come over. It helps him to want to play 'syside' or outside in plain english. It forces him to have to share his toys and to learn how to get along with others. Today, we even had a hot dog lunch courtesy of another party's leftovers! Yum! You can always tell when naptime is near because there seems to be a mass fall apart and that's when moms naturally start packing and heading home. Today all the kids needed baths because they had been playing in our dusty backyard. The Thomas Bouncer is always a hit when kids come to play!

All the mommies will recover from this one and we'll be ready to do it again in a couple of weeks!

Insurance and other head gear

I can't think of a title for this post at the moment, probably because there's not been much going on since last week was so eventful!

Maverick is doing well and even blessed me last night by letting me sleep 4 1/2 uninterrupted hours. I never thought I would be excited about 4 1/2 hours of sleep, but this morning, I was! Maybe we can have a repeat tonight. I don't count my chickens in this department before they hatch. I can't wait to find out what it feels like to sleep 8 hours in a row again.

I went this morning to get a copy of Maverick's birth certificate from the county vital records office so that we can get our wonderful government insurance straightened out. I love our military insurance and the fact that we have paid nothing out of pocket so far for my prenatal visits and for Maverick to be born. However, Maverick's doctor visits and prescriptions are a little more complicated. I called the insurance company a few weeks ago and they acted like me filling out the paperwork to have him covered was no big deal because he's covered for 60 days by default. What she didn't tell me was that they won't pay for his doctor visits without that paperwork and me specifying our current doctor as the primary care physician or that if he needs a prescription they're not going to pay for that unless they have proof that he's alive, aka the birth certificate I went to get today. It has always aggravated me that you can call a company and ask questions to make sure you're doing what you need to do and yet they fail to give you all the necessary information so that you don't end up rushing around covering your butt to get the bills paid. I'm optimistic that next week this will all be taken care of, but it's been a pain in the behind so far.

I did have a great find today, though. My friend, Jen, has this great headband that I've envied for a while. One of the girls that works at the local CVS had the same headband on the other day when I went to get Maverick's prescription filled. So I decided then that I had to have one so I asked Jen where she got it - CVS of all places! Part of my childless morning out was to find that headband and find her one in black if I could. I was determined I would go to every CVS in York county and the south side of Mecklenburg county if I had to so I could have this headband. The first CVS I stop at has them. What's even better is they're buy 1 get 1 50% off - even better - I had a $3 off coupon on a recent CVS receipt. So I got lots of headbands, well, 4! It seemed like a lot. 3 for me and 1 for her! Now the jury is out as to whether or not I like the one like hers on my head! I didn't think it looked as good on me as it did on her. I'm saving the packaging and receipt in case I decide I won't wear it.

As you can tell, this has been a slow week!

Is it really January?

January has snuck up on me some how. I guess December was such a crazy, action filled month that I didn't think it was going to end. I've not even found the time to sit down and evaluate what I need or want to accomplish in 2007. In my mind, 2007 won't start until Maverick is here - At least that's when the dieting starts! I've been working on getting my stuff ready for the preschoolers Sunday night and am a little in disbelief that it's time to start up again. I guess I'm also in disbelief that in 1 week I'll have another baby and a week after that Jake will leave again for training. Then in about 10 weeks we'll pack up and leave Fort Mill. It really is unbelievable how quickly time flies when life is busy!

On another note, we have a brand new dishwasher!! Our landlord, who is great, was here all afternoon putting the finishing touches on the install. Last week the Home Depot delivery guys came to install it and immediately said they weren't touching it because the dishwasher isn't located directly beside the sink. They wouldn't even pull out the old one to dispose of it. Had they done that, they would've seen that all the connections they needed were located directly behind the dishwasher. Needless to say, the landlord says he'll never shop at Home Depot again. I can't wait to do my first load in it in a couple of days. I'm just excited that I won't have to stare at all the dirty dishes sitting in the sink until I decide it's time to hand wash. Yeah for dishwashers!!

Bailey continues to learn new things and say new words. Today he started knocking on the bathroom door and says "knock, knock." He even closed the door and knocked with no one in the bathroom. He's also started using the phrase "Where's ____?" It's really cute. Last night Jake and his dad taught him how to play "down, set, hut" and he squats and waits for the hut and then just takes off running. I got him to say "touchdown" and raise his hands up like the refs the other night while we watched a football game. I definitely don't think he's a genius, but he's reached that point where he's starting to say more words that are understandable.